✓ VIRTUAL AEROBICS; eli moskowitz

40. {december 19}

"okay, not good, but still, it's a start." miguel stated.

"not good at all." mitch murmured.

"we have time for improvement." gioia reassured him.

a cat began to meow from outside the larusso's window, catching bert's attention. the boy had a soft spot for animals, his favourite being cats. he had three at home.

"awh, i think your cat wants to come in." he stepped over to the door and opened it, "here, kitty, kitty."

once he had closed the door, miguel turned to samantha, "i didn't know you had a cat."

"we don't."

a yell came from outside and bert crashed through the window, the pieces of glass surrounding him. gioia immediately went over to help him up. his face was covered in blood and his glasses were no where to be seen.

"bert, what happened?" miguel asked, although it was clear.

"no cat." he groaned.

hawk was the first to enter the house and soon enough the rest of the cobra kais came following after.

kyler smirked, his eyes fixated on miguel. "it's payback time, rhea. let's go!"

the front door kicked open, revealing tory and a few of her classmates beside her. "heard you were throwing a party. hope you don't mind if we crash." tory smirked.

miguel stepped forward, "tory, you don't have to do this."

"it's too late."

gioia moved out from behind everyone else, looking tory in the eye for the first time in a week. "so y-you've broken into the larusso's house and now you're beat us up?" gioia questioned. "what's your r-reason?"

"my r-r-r-r-reason?" she mocked her, watching her face break. even tory had surprised herself with that one, but she wasn't going to let her guard down. "sunshine, have you been living under a rock? don't tell me you've forgotten?" tory gave her a faux frown before turning to miguel. "it's not over yet, but this ends tonight! no mercy!"

everyone got into their typical fighting stances, facing their opponents. without another thought, they began to battle one another. gioia stepped back, not wanting to get involved in the whole fight. but as she backed up, she had bumped into someone. the girl quickly turned around and was face to face with jack. jack o'malley.

she felt her heart stop for a moment before it began to palpitate. it was surreal, she thought she was dreaming. "no. no... no." she muttered.

"yes, yes, yes." the black-haired boy smirked. "hello, princess."

"why a-are you out?" gioia couldn't believe her eyes.

"good behaviour." he simply smiled. "how have you been? terrible, i hope." jack pitched his fist straight for her face and she had surprisingly managed to avoid it.

pivoting around, the girl began to run away but jack was fast. he picked her up by her waist, and heaved her harshly right onto the floor and on her back. groaning at the impact on her back, gioia couldn't stand up at that moment. jack kneeled beside her, a sickening smile on his face. "i've been waiting for this day since i was shipped into juvie."

"this whole thing you have against me is because i d-didn't like you back?" gioia found sudden confidence. she didn't spend weeks in the hospital and therapy just to let him traumatise her again. she was terrified, no doubt. but she knew she couldn't let it show. "i didn't even know you. you're a psychopath. no girl could ever like you."

jack snarled, throwing his fist down, again aiming for her nose. gioia slid out of the way and quickly pushed herself to her feet. once she was up, he socked her right in the face, her lip now throbbing. gioia stumbled back, her fingers brushing over her lip. she gave him a disgusted look and booted the boy in his head, hard, before instantly kicking his stomach.